More post-game quotes

“With the way we’re working, you’ve got to think we’re going to get a bounce here or there, and it’s just unfortunate we didn’t get one today.”

On his retaliation penalty after Galiardi boarded Girardi:

“After you see Gabby go down last game from a hit from behind, (Girardi) being my D partner, he’s got to know I’m going to be there for him, and I know he’s going to be there for me. So it’s one of those heat-of-the-moment things. It’s something where you have to let the other team know you’re going to be there for each other.

“You don’t want …. like, it didn’t get taken care of last game with the Gabby thing. The opportunity was there and I felt it was just the right move to make.”

Marc Staal:

On the penalty kill:

“It’s just not getting the job done right now. I think we did a better job tonight not taking so many penalties, but when we did it was costing us. Obviously there’s some things we can iron out and we need to do that. You can’t win consistently if your special teams aren’t there. Tonight we didn’t do the job on the penalty kill or … the power play.”

On the quickness with which Colorado scored its first PPG.

“Obviously it’s frustrating. I thought that neither team was getting too much 5-on-5. We were both playing pretty well defensively. It kind of came down to special teams and they were better than us on special teams. That was the story.”

On the young core guys needing to step up because of the injuries:

“Well, you know, everyone has to. I think not only the guys that have been here a while but (also) the guys that are just coming in. We have a couple of big holes there at forward and everyone’s got to be better and hopefully within the next few days we get some guys comfortable playing with each other and we can find some rhythm in our lines and try ot bury some goals.”

On whether these 3-6 weeks are make-or-break:

“I wouldn’t say make-or-break. I’d say that definitely, it’s tough to get off to a tough start early on and have to battle your way back at the end of the year … but we can’t look at it like that. We’ve got to look at it going into the next game and being better and trying to win now. If you look too far down the road you start getting in trouble.”

I asked him about the alternate captaincy:

“It was great. Obviously, they look to me to bring some leadership and I can do that and help out in that way. I’m going to. It was pretty cool to take on that responsibility.”

He found out before the game when he looked at his sweater and it had the “A” sewn on.

Henrik Lundqvist:

On the struggle to score goals (again).

“It’s early. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. We just have to find ways to win here. Personally, I have to try to play better and cut down a goal here or there. I feel better for each game, but it’s not enough. I have to try to improve. You know, they were good. Their power play was really good. They didn’t have that many chances, but they moved the puck really well.

“It’s tough. We came back there after a tough start. We really battled back and had a good game going. Then two quick ones in the third. We just have to keep working harder. That’s the only option right now.”

On the next few weeks without Gaborik and Drury:

“You know, whoever’s in … we can’t really focus on who’s out. We just have to do it together and what’s good about this team this year is we have four lines going. I don’t think it’s that much focus on the first line. … That’s what I see as a good thing.

“Obviously, it’s key players. But there’s nothing we can do right now other than just focus on the next game, the next practice, and get better.”

“I don’t know what else to say. We want to win at home, especially, so we have to try to think what we can do better, what I can do better, and come back on Thursday.”

On the difficulty of losing games late, on power plays.

“A loss is a loss. It doesn’t really matter how you lose. You’re not getting the points, so that’s always frustrating. We’re right there. It’s been close games in the last five to eight minutes and it’s gone the other way. So we have to stay positive that we’re close and with some luck we could have gotten a lot more points right now, but that’s not the case.”

the rangers love to bring the puck out high on offense or bring the puck behind the net on defense instead of going north. it almost always causes problems and hardly ever is a good move. roszival loves to do that and avery loves to do it in the offensive zone also.

del zotta talks a lot for a guy playing poorly. yep, he may think he is a all star but so far he has played poorly, made bad decisions and done crap on the PP..

ok, just got done watching the dvr’d game (no way am I reading all the posts so if I repeat something already said, I aplogize) and man, our D sucks down low. We are way too soft on the blueline!

nice hit by gilroy to start the game though.

Nobody clears the damn crease routinely or has that mentality on defence. It is so damn frustrating.

I now know why rozy was always paired with malik, they skate the same speed….wow. I think purinton was a faster skater than rozy!

torts is an idiot. You have a team on a long road trip and you don’t roll 4 lines??? Why not put boogie on the PP right in front of the net??

It is only like 4 games into the season, but we really should have either acquired a crease clearer from another team or at least have vtank up here. The fact we are so bad around the crease is why we should not have picked an offencive D man early in the draft, tonight’s game was a primo example of that.

Why is rozy on the PP and getting what seems like a ton of ice time?? Torts is an idiot!!! eminger is better on the PP than he is (not saying much I know).

Wasted PPs!!!! No rebound shots at all and too much perimeter play from the forwards on the PP. Should have used the prust line more on the PP.

Staal with the A permanent? I would give it to avery or prust, but staal is better than some!

I too just finished watching the game on DVR, so apologies if I’m repeating….

This team is embarassingly soft, and I blame Torts for handcuffing the few players with heart (and stapling our biggest weapon in the toughness department to the bench). All the talk about standing up for eachother and not letting Hank get run, and what has happened four games in? Our best player is injured from an illegal hit and Hank has been run in two consecutive games, with no effective response. Disgraceful.

Can’t score at even strength, won’t clear the crease, let the other team run Hank a few times, can’t score on the powerplay, can’t win at home. Sounds pretty familiar. I know it’s early, but this team has the potential to be really awful.

So MDZ admints that they did not do anything re: hit on Gaborik. Hmmm… where have I heard this before? Is the message finally getting through?

We as a unit played better than Friday, although still good enough for the AHL – anyone notice the turn-overs in the Neutral zone or the blue line passes that end up coming back up the ice in a hurry? Anyone notice the lack of physical play down low on the pk? How about the lack of shots on goal in the first and into the second?

This is coaching my friends …. I find it hard to believe that we have all of these star players (they must be we are paying them as such) and we continue to look like amateurs at times. Torts has a LOT of work to do with this crew – especially in light of the injury to Gabby. Hank faced i think 33 shots – come on guys – that should be at least down by a third –

I say we place Avery Rozi on the trading block – and look to bring in more speed up front with talent and a intimidating D man for front of the net.

The game was actually depressing. Carp, I think the columnists should actually stop interviewing them after the games. Treat them like a kid who refuses to do his homework. They get no media attention until they start behaving like professional athletes, not…whatever you want to call it that they are doing right now. They look like they are running out the season. No heart. No balls. No fun to watch.

When your try out hopeful ends up on your first line- you’re in deep trouble. Fedotenko is a good third line/situational player type of NHLer, that’s it. Where is all this depth we talked about? Do you think Kennedy would help now? Well, he has more creativity than a lot of the players we have left at the moment. But he can’t come up, he will be picked up. This one is on Slats. White should’ve been sent down instead. Too late. Bring MZA, even Grachev perhaps, someone with hands.

All other units do what they need to, and do it well. Second and third line were close to scoring, but they don’t have enough talent to finish. If they scored on one of those third period PPs, the game would’ve been theirs.

You know it’s going to be a long season when people start clamoring for a guy to be put on the power play that hasn’t scored a goal since the Roosevelt administration. Come on, people. WTB are you thinking?

ilb – if you remember during the preseason I said that they should keep the kids up like MZA and get rid of Fedotenko,White and Emminger and suffer through the growing pains. I agree with you. What is the upside of having these guys on the team? What’s the upside of giving a younger player NHL experience? Well, maybe by the end of the season he’ll be a much better player. Will Fedotenko, White and Emminger be better by the end of the season? I don’t think so. WYSIWYG with those guys. There is no upside.

Hi folks…. I wonder what gave Staal the idea that they played well defensively. That is not the way I saw it. I thought the defense was real shakey in their own end. Delzotto screws up under the least bit of pressure. Rozi is playing in slow motion, in fact the entire D is slow, and way to soft. They get pushed around like kids. There are better D men in Hartford. They played a pretty good second period, they has some good scoring chances over all. The PK has been terrible, That has been their downfall. They miss drury and Prospel on the penalty kill for sure. They have to bring a guy or two up. They can’t go with three lines for long. I also think the defence needs some help.

Whatever about the defense. The problem is the offense completely disappeared. On one shift, Frolov was controlling the puck behind the net, looking to pass, and no one was in front. No one. All Colorado had to do was stand in front, because no Rangers were there. Maybe that’s why they can never score on rebounds or deflections. The offense, except for a few decent shifts, can’t do anything.

It looks like the main goal of our PP is to pass the puck around. It goes from one point, down low, behind the net, on the other side, back to the point. They are looking for open man down low. Everyone is covered. Do you know why? Because the defenders don’t have to move up and cover the shot from the point. What for? They don’t shoot. Why waste the energy? Lower the effing shoulder and shoot the puck! Yes, they will block a few. So what? But it leaves someone open down low eventually. And the PKers get tired by some point of the game.

avery was one of the few who had some decent scoring chances last night. at least he can add to the offense, hes not a 1 dimensional player. like most of our d and as for torts, he is gonna have to change this 3 men deep all within 5 feet of each other attack. it gets countered so easily

Don’t underestimate what MDZ did after Girardi was hit. That gave them a lot of energy right after and they took the game over until the PPs failed. It happens all the time, the team kills those penalties, and plays with energy after. If Torts doesn’t recognize that, he shouldn’t be behind the bench.

How about that game winner? Yes, Eminger was pushed by Stewart. Do you know why? Because he had his back towards him, he was watching the play behind the net. WTB was he watching it for? The danger isn’t there, it’s in front of the net. He should’ve been at least partially facing Stewart and fighting for the space. That way Stewart would never be able to keep his stick on the ice.

ilb, the pp is pathetic. its because they have no confidence that they themselves can make a good play or they dont trust each other enough. its because torts changes the combos if something doesnt happen right away. todd white was on the pp but all i heard was his name once. didnt see him do anything. also, we gave up 2 breakaways and other odd man situations on our p. when that happens it makes them tentative. artie was the only good one on the pp from his rushes into teh zone and getting shots off quickly. theyre passing was sloppy all night and when you pass it to other guys feet and its bouncing around, just get the puck to teh net. and they did do that afew times, but cally,duby,frolov(had a great chance in the first) avery, all missed what chances they had. cally shot it wide on a partial breakaway, then frolov misses an open net almost, then duby doesnt lift the puck over andersons pads for an easy chance anderson gave him. all in all, we didnt play so bad but finishing the chances and being poussins on d killed us. cant blame hank on this one. dz and staal are getting worse, not better. for people complaining about avery, the guy does more of the little things like drury. he does his job and also adds some speed and goes to the net. only bad thing is his stupid penalties, but rozy, staal, eminger and others all take worse penalties from being lazy or from trying to cover up on a mistake.

That pattern has always been the Ranger way since Renney. pass pass pass, look for the perfect shot( and with a team that routinely shoots wide of the net, that’s gonna be a long long wait.)

I once counted ( when Jagr was the PP guy) eighteen passes on one power play and not one shot on goal was made prior to it’s expiration. It has always been a maddening practice.

Something is wrong deep within the bowels of this organization that lends it self to futility and
a completely sophomoric outlook on the directions of the game. I always seem to come back to the coaching ( all the coaching). And it seems that almost in every game, I see a goal tender who appears to have a better grasp on what he is doing than LQ. Cam Ward is an exceptional young man who rarely gets his name in print, but he has been a game saver more times than I can count.
Last night it was Roloson. The Leaf goaltender also looked great.

I haven’t seen many others to date, but there are some good ones, and all the equal of, if not exceeding the performances of LQ….. I still think he has been prematurely crowned . But watch out for Toronto this season.. they are good,,yes indeed, Good.

Jagr’s first two seasons, the Rangers were 4th and 8th on the power play in the NHL. Then Drury showed up, and the stats plummeted down. Creative, offensive players are needed, and Torts doesn’t know what to do. Torts said last night about Frolov that it’s important for him to score, but he needs to be better defensively. Really? How about getting an offense going — Frolov wasn’t signed to be Blair Betts. Torts doesn’t know what he wants.

Fran,
Great observation. The only way that the culture is gonna change is if the team is completely gutted. That not only includes 80% of the players, it includes ALL management (ownership especially). And that includes Messier as well. If Mess is under the stewardship of Sather, where the hell is that gonna lead us?

CW, you’re right, well maybe not about it being the “DUMBEST” idea we’ve ever seen posted here (because we’ve seen some really dumb ones)… but your point is right, nonetheless.

I wanted to re-post a point I’ve been making for a couple weeks now and had made before the game… Rozi and Staal SUCK! (Where are the Rozi supporters today, huh?) Rozi gets the penalty leading to the first goal which is scored because Mamby Panzy Staal is playing with his own hockey stick in front. The second goal, Rozi is the one playing Mamby Panzy hockey and it goes in on a weak defensive play!!

From yesterday, before game:
“Rozi and staal have been the worst this year. Whoever is defending rozi, start watching the games please. Mdz makes fewer mistakes, mistakes you expect from rookies. Girardi, emminger and even Gilroy have all been better than your man crush Rozi.
…Can’t wait until he’s out of the nhl (which is his next stop, btw) because no north american team will be resigning him.”

Wait, this team is soft on D, and completely lacking in offensive firepower, and expects to ride a goalie that simply has never won it big? And they have too many 3rd and 4th liners and a group of young players without a single one who is like a Tavares or Kane?

Shocker. This team hasn’t changed in years and every summer we delude ourselves into thinking the new group of journeymen will “do all the right things” and prove that teams win Cups, not talent.

If Torts is not going to use, to any extent, Humphrey Boogaard, why not dump him for a kid from Hartford?

Is Hank going to start 75+ games again this year? It sure looks like it because after three mediocre to poor performances before last night’s game, he was due for a break. He looks like a C+ academic grade goalie, so far. Seems to be struggling and fighting himself. Seems lost at times.

Anyone signing as a FA with this team – Mr. Biron – is a jerk – apart from making too much money. Too much playing time will never be a problem.

You know this is a weak team when, with Redden gone and Dreary sidelined, the team STILL looks like crap. Whatever happened to “addition through subtraction?”

We are coming up on trading a pile of kids for a couple Souray-types, finishing 8th in the conference, then getting bounced in five games in the first round by Washington. My God – it never ends and Slats is never going to retire. NEVER. Having him run the club feels like being in chains in a smelly dark ages dungeon.